Groundbreaking Marks Start of Wheatstone Construction
PERTH, Western Australia, 1 December, 2011 – Chevron Australia Pty Ltd and its joint venture participants have commemorated the start of construction of the AUD$29 billion Wheatstone natural gas project with a special groundbreaking ceremony at Ashburton North, near Onslow on Western Australia’s Pilbara coast.
Senior executives from Chevron, Apache, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) and Shell were joined at the site of the Wheatstone Project by the Western Australian Premier, the Hon. Colin Barnett MLA and other invited dignitaries.
George Kirkland, vice chairman, Chevron Corporation, said today’s event formally marked the start of construction of one of Chevron and Australia’s largest resource projects.
“We’re constructing a facility that will benefit generations. Like Gorgon, it will produce energy by redefining what technically-complex, environmentally-responsible projects look like in the 21st century,” Kirkland said.
Melody Meyer, president, Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company, said Wheatstone would provide vital supplies of natural gas to Australia and the region.
“Combined with the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project, this further enhances Chevron’s position as a leading supplier of natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region,” Meyer said.
Roy Krzywosinski, managing director, Chevron Australia, added that construction of the project would take about five years with first gas planned for 2016.
"Since the Wheatstone Project was sanctioned in September, preliminary site works have started. The accommodation complex, which will house more than 4,300 construction workers, will be one of the first facilities to be built at the site," Krzywosinski said.
The Wheatstone onshore foundation Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (73.6 percent), Apache (13 percent), KUFPEC (7 percent), and Shell (6.4 percent).
The foundation project comprises two LNG Trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum and a domestic gas plant. It is forecast to create more than 6,500 direct and indirect jobs at peak construction and result in more than AUD$17 billion being spent on Australian goods and services.
Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies and through its Australian subsidiaries, has been present in Australia for almost 60 years. With the ingenuity and commitment of its workforce, Chevron Australia leads the development of the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas projects; manages its equal one-sixth interest in the North West Shelf Venture; and operates Australia’s largest onshore oilfield on Barrow Island and the Thevenard Island oilfields. The company is also a participant in the Browse liquefied natural gas development and is a significant investor in exploration offshore northwest Australia.
In addition, Chevron’s Perth-based Global Technology Centre provides technology support and solutions to the company’s operations in Australia and around the world. www.chevronaustralia.com
END
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release of Chevron Corporation contains forward-looking statements relating to Chevron’s operations in Australia that are based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections about the petroleum, chemicals, and other energy-related industries. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “targets,” “projects,” “believes,” “seeks,” “schedules,” “estimates,” “budgets,” “will supply,” “will be supplied” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company’s control and are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. The reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are crude-oil and natural-gas prices; refining, marketing and chemicals margins; actions of competitors or regulators; the competitiveness of alternate-energy sources or product substitutes; technological developments; the inability or failure of the company’s joint-venture partners to fund their share of operations and development activities; the potential failure to achieve expected net production from existing and future crude-oil and natural-gas development projects; potential delays in the development, construction or start-up of planned projects; the potential disruption or interruption of the company’s operations due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, severe weather or crude-oil production quotas that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); the potential liability for remedial actions or assessments under existing or future environmental regulations and litigation; significant investment or product changes under existing or future environmental statutes, regulations and litigation; the potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation; the company’s acquisition or disposition of assets; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations, industry-specific taxes, changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on scope of company operations; foreign-currency movements compared with the U.S. dollar; the effects of changed accounting rules under generally accepted accounting principles promulgated by rule-setting bodies; and the factors set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” on pages 30 and 31 of the company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, such statements could be affected by general domestic and international economic and political conditions. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed in this press release could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules permit oil and gas companies to disclose only proved reserves in their filings with the SEC. Certain terms, such as “total resource base,” “resource replacement,” “long-term reserves,” among others, may be used in this press release to describe certain oil and gas properties that are not permitted to be used in filings with the SEC.